babel

PRONUNCIATION:

(BAB-uhl, BAY-buhl)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A confused mixture of noises or voices.
2. A scene of noise or confusion.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Hebrew Babhel (Babylon). In the Old Testament (Genesis 11:4-9), people
united in an attempt to build a city with a tower that reached the heavens.
This displeased god who halted the project by confounding people's speech so
they wouldn't understand one another. Earliest documented use: before 1382.

USAGE:

"While an excited babel of Spanish, German, Japanese, and Hindi emanated
from the dozens of television news crews in the street, the response to
Charles and Camilla's I dos among locals was mostly We Don't."
Glenda Cooper; In Windsor, a Royal Pain; The Washington Post; Apr 10, 2005.

Nobody can be lucky all the time; / so when your luck deserts you in some fashion / don't think you've been abandoned in your prime, / but rather that you're saving up your ration. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996)